Means for operating master-controllers.



E. G. DEUGHER. MEANS FOR OPERATING MASTER CONTROLLERS.

APPLICATION FILED-JULY 28,1909. I v

. Patented May 10,3910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Witnesses: lnvuntnr Attorney r E. G. D'EUCHER. MEANS FOR OPERATING MASTER CONTROLLERS.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 28,1909. 957,662. Patented May 10, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: 4 I/VVE/WOR I BY daz- '6; ATTORNEY EUGENE DEUCEER, CLEVELAND, QHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE BROWN I'IOISTING MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

MEANS FOR OPERATING MASTER-CONTROLLERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1910.

Application filed July 28, 1909. Serial No. 509,973.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, EUcnNE G. DEUCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the countyof Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and usct'ul .h'leans for Operating Master-Controllens, of which I hereby declare the following to be -a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings as a part of the specificatiou.

The invention pertains more especially.

to hoisting and conveying machines adapted to the handling of coal. ore or like'sub oftrans'fer, and, the various i'novemcnts involved are effected by electrically driven motors provided for the'purposc This arrangement involves a magnetic equipment, with current-limitrclays, whose essential features are a. series of rhcostats to reduce or throttle the current to the minimum needed to start the motors, a series of individual switches to open or close the current paths through this rheostat. resistance, and, master controllers to' successively actuate said switches according as the motors are to be accelerated or retarded. Current-limit relay coils may also be arranged in the connection to reduce the current between and at successive switches to predetermined quantity. The raising and lowering of the tworopc buckct, for instance, in a closed condition, is accomplished in a machine of this kind, by a specially driven drum known as the hoist-drum. the traverse of the bucketaloug the track by a similar drum and m otor, and, the winding and unwinding ot'thc so-callcd shell, or sustaining rope, still a third drum and motor. Each of these various apparatus and elen'lcnts of the entire equipment, also serve as inst rumcntali ties for subkn'dinatc functiol'is, either in combination, one with another, or by variations of their individual modes of action, with the result that, under present, methods, the operator is often called upon for a degree of energy and exertion forthe various manipulations required which it is highly desirable to reduce.

It is the object and purpose of my present invention to provide a form of lever arrangement toroperating the master controllers of one or more motors, of magnetic or air-controlled hoisting and conveying machine equipments of the above type, so that a plurality of the movements required to complete a" trolleys cycle are brought within a single grasp on the lever, and, the n'iovemcnts to be taken care of during the process by the other hand of the operator are reduced to a minimum.

.l 'his arrangement is illustrated by said drawings, wherein the same parts are designated by the same letters, in every instance, and, Figure 1 represents the various electrical and mechanicalparts and connections of said hoistingand conveying machine, Fig. 2, an elevation of the master control tors, and their lever, in normal operative place, Fig. 3, a .plan view of the same, Fig. 4, a sectional View on the lines m, as, of Fig. 2, Fig. 5, a like view on the lines 3 y, of Fig. 2, and, Fig. 6 a fragmentary portion of the lover where one of its contactors is disengaged.

It is thought the device will be readily understood by those familiar. w 'th 'the art to which itpertains without representations of the hoisting and conveying machine with which it is associated. Such machine, in this case, is assumed to be of the two-rope grab-bucket type, I) being the bucket itself.

A and A are, respectively, the hoist, and shell drums therein, in their regular posilions on av driving shaft S, the drum A being keyed thereon and the drum A, loose. M is a motor adapted to operate said shaft, through a train of gears a, Z), 0 and d. M is provided with a solenoid brake -s actuated by reason of electrical contacts, effected-as iudicated-eithcr from the lever handle L or the controller C. M is a corresponding motor, for the shell-drum A, operated through a train of gears a, b, c, d, and, is likewise provided with. a solenoid-brake a, actuated, similarly as s, from either said leverhandle l or the controller C. A tric- .tion clutch U is provided for the loose shell drum A. It. is governed by a solenoid 8 in an electric circuit controlled by the lever L. A third motor M is shown for racking the buckebtrolley along its track. It is provided with a special controller C" and proper circuit connections, and mechanism.

Subordinate circuits, with their manifest functions, are indicated in Fig. 1 with solenoid interruptions and 5* therein, actuating the solenoids s and s in order to close the circuits 6 and 6, whenever it is desired to start the motors M or M independently of each other and without deflecting the lever L. The current that is to pass through 3," when its circuit is completed by pressing the button W, as hereinafter explained, need only be large enough to energize the solenoid s and put enough torque in the motor M to wind up the slaclt-rope preliminary to raising the load.

G and C are master controllers of the usual type for the circuits, respectively, T and T. They are arranged parallel to each other with their spindles'projecting through the tops into horizontal beveled pinions l and P. Said controllers are supported in an. upright position on and by a sub-base or casting B, which also carries on its lower portion, terminal contact posts 0 O and O O, in the circuits, respectively, T and T. These circuits, or circuit systems, T and T, as indicated in Fig. 1, each includes a series of rheostat resistances, 12, 21 ,0 '0, and u, that are cut out, in succession, by corresponding relay switches f F, f, and f' according as contactors u ,'u a, and 14*, which are provided for the purpose, are

, severally energized. By this means, as will he manifest, the master controller will regulate the motor-currents, and effect the sedual, instead of instantaneous, introduction at" their full force. The current which passes through the circuit T should be ample tti enable the motor M, to actuate the drum A and thereby pick up. or assist in raising the bucket with its full load. These posts are shown as arranged in positive and negative pairs beneath and somewhat to the rear of their corresponding controllers.

tending upwardly from B, and at right angles one to the other, are two pairs of bearing point m, m, and n, n, the former of which carry a transverse pin p and the latter the pins p p, in the same plane as p. The

pin 7/ (projects beyond its bearings and at; one en 15 shouldered down and threaded to receive a nut is, and has firmly affixed thereto arms Eand E that reach upwardlybe;

The nut keeps the pair in place. ,Said legs are prolonged, below the pin 77, to a point between the posts 0 O and O O and are there pivoted, respectively, with contactplates g and y, cross-wise in front of said posts. The pin p shown as, preferably, rectangular in section through the portion between the bearing supports m, m, and with a hole therethrough transversely of its length and in the same plane as p 7). The curved bars F ll are notched at the middle point of their tops. An upright open casting V is situated between the master controllers C and C, in pivotal engagement at its lower end with the pins 7) p on opposite sides of the pin y). At corresponding sides of its upper end are beveled racks R and R in mesh, respectively, with beveled pinions l and P. Centrally of the casting and projecting upwardly through a rectangular apcrture H therein is a vertically disposed lever L. Said lever is forked at its lower end to straddle and engage the ends of a pin p that occupies the transverse hole in the pin :0 above referred to. A safety catch to is provided to engage with said notches ill the bars I! and switches, as indicated by W V, are conveniently located in the ban die of the lever 1.1 for circuits t and t rcspectivcly.

A cycle of the trolley, and the accompanying bucket-operations. are effected, in an arrangement as above described, by first moving the lever L, on its pivotal bearings m on the base B, ott' its center path to the left as the drawing is viewed in Figs. 2 and 6 (thereby breaking circuit connection between the contaet plate g, and the posts 0 O) and, at the same time, throwing said lever forward a notch and thereby revolving the controllers (I and C, through the pinions P P into contacts. As will be seen the brake for the hoisting motor M will thus become released and the motor be started. Its speed may now be increased by a further movementof the lever L between thebars F, and, in order to take up the slack of the secondary or shell-lope around the drum A, during the process, the subsidiary circuit that energizes the solenoid switch at a, should be closed by pressing the button atWV in the levershandle, so that the brake to the motor-shaft of M will lift, and the motor itself develop a torque. As the drum A revolves the bucket will close around it's grab, whereupon the lever L is thrown back around its bearings m to the center of its path. By returning the lever L to its central path or-position the. plate 9 and the post 0 are brought into contact and the circult T through the controller C is thereby completed. At this stage, the office of the circuit- It being finished, the button W ma be-released and the circuit broken. Bot motors will now run at the same speed and- ,o'fi its center path,

the two ropes will be correspondingly wound of their in on their drums; ,When, the bucket has reached a certain height and while both drums are still revolving the controller C is actuated and the trolley racked. During this movement the bucket will reach the end of the hoist when the lever L is to be brought back to its vertical position and the power shut off. The trolley, in the meantime is traveled along its track by any suitable means until the di'nnping point is vertically below and the trolley is stopped. The lever L is thrust backwardly, in its central path,

on the lowering side of-the quadrantal bars F, which will result in the lifting of the brakes on the shafts of the motors M and M, and allow the reverse revolution 'of said shafts, under control of assumed dynamic brakes, and the simultaneous unwinding of the ropes and lowering of the bucket to the dump-pile below. lVhen the bucket has been lowered to the desired distance, the load is discharged by throwing thelcirr L to the left, breaking the circuit T at O O. This operation simultaneously stops themotor A and allows the brake situated at 8 to set, against the motors shaft and the shell-drum A will stop and the bucket proper will consequently be held in mid air. The motor-M still keeps on and the rope it controls 'will continue running off the drum A and the bucketjaws are thus free to open, and let the load drop out. The lever L is now again broughtback to its vertical position and all motion of the motors will cease. To raise the open bucket the solenoid s is energized, by throwing the lever if forward; this will bring the clutch ll into engagement with the drum A', and equalize the motors M and M. The lever L is again thrust forward, in its center path, to ,sta rtboth motors. whereupon both the hoist and shell-ropes will be taken in at the same speed. A t'tcr the bucket is brought up to its trolley the lever his brought back toa vertical, and the trolley is racked back toward the filling point bya'eversing the controller (1 and, when near -such filling point thrusting the lever l lmckwardlyin its center path to allow the btu-kot; to descendnndcr dynamic brake control, to the pile below. When the bucket rcaclms the-pile, the ra king controller C is closed by reversing the lover L', the circuit which encrgizes the solenoid s, is broken, the clutch U thrown out of engagclncnt. with the drum A, and the. cycle of the trolley finished.

Although the idea as set forth in the foregoing descriptions, calls for a special rclation of the controllers and particular forms actuating levers, it will be manifest that such idea may be embodied in ,.other relations, and forms and equally be ,Within the invention as I desire to claim tlltk'same. Thus, for instance, instead of the controllers being side by side, they may be arranged end to end on a common shaft having a sin gle pinion that meshes with the gear of a two-way or duplex lever, or, the controllers may be arranged in pairs, with gearing between their pinions actuated by a lever that has contact engagement with both circuits when in normal or central position and the necessary contrary movement, off its central position, to make and break such contacts.

V hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a hoisting and conveying machine provided with an electrically operated grab-bucket on thesame, a plurality of systems of rheostat resistances therein, having switches in the path of the current therethrough, master controllers for actuating said switches, and suitable levermechanism for rotating the controllers, when moved in one direction and making and breaking contacts, .with the controller circuits, when moved crosswise of said direction, substantially as shown and described.

2. Means for operating a plurality of master controllers comprising the combination of a suitable gearing for simultaneously rotating said controllers and a two-Way or duplexhand-lever for actuatin said gear mg when moved, in one dlIQClllOIl, and of making and breaking a contact with the circuits of said controllers when moved eross wise of said direction, substantially as shown and described. I I

3. A means for o crating master controllers comprising t e combination of a hinged frame-work or housing betweenvthe vsame provided with racks that ifii sli iin with pinions on the cylinders of said controllers, a. two-way, or duplex lever, Within said housing for actuatlng the same about its hinges, saidfle'ver' being in contact with and apart ofthe-controller circuits when in the "center path of said actuating movement one "way, and, out of contact with one or the other of said circuits when and according as it is moved cross-wise of. said path on its other way, substantially as shown and descr bed.

EUGENE G. DEUCHE it.

In the resence of- L. Lirrs, \V. I 1. WESTCOTT. 

